Removing Cornwallis statue from Halifax park is local issue: Wilson-Raybould

Federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould says she defers to the views of local Mi'kmaq leaders on whether a controversial statue of Halifax's founder should be moved.

The Liberal cabinet minister was in Wolfville, N.S., Thursday attending a meeting with Nova Scotia chiefs and MPs to discuss increased self government for Mi'kmaq communities in the province.

Last month protesters pledged to remove a bronze monument to Edward Cornwallis in a Halifax park, but instead the city temporarily covered it in a tarp.

Cornwallis, as governor of Nova Scotia, founded Halifax in 1749 and soon after issued a bounty on Mi'kmaq scalps in response to an attack on colonists.

Some members of the Mi'kmaq community have called for removal of tributes to Cornwallis, calling his actions a form of genocide.

Wilson-Raybould, who is aboriginal, says the regional leadership of the Assembly of First Nations and ``the rest of the community and elders'' will determine what actions to take to enhance reconciliation between First Nations and non-aboriginal residents in Nova Scotia.